A New Balance
by Murazor
Summary: BTVS LoK Crossover . The blood of the Key opened a portal that would have destroyed all the worlds, but Buffy jumped in and closed it, thus saving the universe from destruction. And if she had ended elsewhere?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Not mine. The Legacy of Kain videogames were developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Eidos Interactive. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was created by Joss Whedon.

I- The Matriarch of Avernus

"Tell me, Lady Azimuth. Where are your children? Where are your pets?"

The voice was coldly sarcastic and loud enough to be heard everywhere in the large chamber. Azimuth, Matriarch of Avernus, shivered when he heard the taunt and it took all of her self-restraint to avoid giving away her position. Her enemy was hunting and she was weak.

Hidden behind one of the massive pillars that supported the cathedral's main hall, the sorceress could not see the creature mocking her. And even attempting to detect the creature's approach by hearing was futile. Her stalker was vicious and savage in battle, but he was also cunning and moving silently was well within his ability. He might be in the other side of the pillar, preparing for a surprise attack, or in the opposite corner of the hall. Too close in both cases, at any rate.

On his own, the vampire was already a mighty foe. Wielding the legendary Soul Reaver, the abomination had proven to be stronger than the hell spawned creatures that Azimuth had summoned to fight him. The strong natural armour had been no match for the Reaver's famed blade. The Matriarch had seen her protectors fall one after another, until she had been alone against her enemy.

Usually, the bloody show would have been much to her liking for the woman, whose madness had made her unleash a swarm of monsters with a thirst for death and violence against her own city, yet the promise of an impending bloody and painful death has the odd power of robbing even the worst maniacs of their joy.

"I can smell your fear, Azimuth. I can smell you, even with this disgusting stench. It is... quite pleasing, actually. Much better than those stinking demons and their poisonous blood," continued the voice, reverberating in the walls. "It will be a pleasure to drink your blood. I'm sure that it will wipe the aftertaste."

This time, Azimuth failed to contain a whimper, followed seconds later by a cry of terror when a form appeared out of thin air in front of her. The vampire was a creature of pale skin and snow-white hair, who wore blood-red armour and held in his right hand the dreaded Soul Reaver. Azimuth felt in her very soul the power of the blade's malevolent spirit, a nameless thing that devoured the souls of those slain with the deadly sword.

"Matriarch. I bid you well in the afterlife," said Kain, bane of the Circle, preparing his weapon for the last strike.

The vampire's words and the image of the blade about to sever her neck, made Azimuth react in the last moment. Using her powers for dimensional manipulation, the woman teleported blindly. Unfortunately, she had drained her well of power early in the battle, summoning too many demons, so instead of ending in some distant place, safe and sound, she reappeared just a few meters away from her would-be killer.

The vampire, cursing violently, turned and advanced swiftly, with every intention of ending the battle for good. In a last, desperate effort, Azimuth grasped with both hands the great red jewel that rested on her chest and tried to locate a being strong enough to slow Kain long enough to make her escape. The gem was Azimuth's Third Eye, the focus of her powers and her connection with the Pillar of Dimension, that allowed her to see worlds beyond Nosgoth and to open portals between different realms.

Usually, her efforts would have been wasted, as she would have been hard pressed to summon even the weakest imp in her weakened condition. Thus, it was a most unusual event that she was searching at the same time that a dimensional tear was being opened elsewhere in the multiverse, a fracture caused by a power far greater than her own... a power that she was able to steal to restore her might.

Kain slowed, wary, when Azimuth's three eyes started to glow with a preternatural green light and her lips curved to form a mocking, cruel smile.

"What happens, vampire? Your courage abandoned you? I don't think that you will not have a chance to taste my blood after all," taunted the matriarch, while her hands moved, creating arcane symbols of green light in the air. "My power is renewed. And your fate is now sealed!"

But the vampire didn't really pay attention to her last words. Following the call, a new host had abandoned Hell to face Kain. Tall horned titans with burning breath. Agile creatures with the appearance of insects whose very touch was poisonous. Fast beasts that commanded lightning. The strongest creatures of the underworld had come and in large numbers. Larger than the first group that Kain had destroyed.

For a moment, Kain almost faltered. He had the mightiest sword in Nosgoth, he had strength and magical power far above most mortals, yet to face alone the denizens of Hell itself was still a tall order. For a time, he resisted, defending himself from the assault with all his skill and no reward for his efforts, as Azimuth simply called for reinforcements when he scored a new kill.

He had decided to leave, was about to cast a spell that would have taken him to a sanctuary far away from Avernus and its demons to heal and prepare the rematch, when the brightness of the green light decreased. He didn't know what that meant or why it was happening. But he knew that it had to be good for him, if Azimuth was no longer laughing madly. The magical power he had gathered to cast his spell, became a burning ray of energy that scorched the head of one of his closest enemies.

"Vae Victus!," cried the vampire, jumping against the largest group of his foes, already decided to die again or win this battle.

While Kain cut his way through the wall of devils, Azimuth was busy seeing with the Third Eye the closing of the portal that she had been using to feed her summons. That would not do. She was not sure of what it was, but she knew that the power that had opened the tear was the key to release her gods from their exile of millennia. The presence he had felt entering the portal, just as it began to close, was no doubt the answer to the whole enigma. Burning most of the power he had borrowed in the effort, Azimuth sent her will through the barriers between the worlds and removed the presence from the fracture, just before it closed completely.

When she opened her two mortal eyes, Azimuth felt her heart miss a beat as she found in front of her a pale face with golden eyes, touched by the black poison that coursed through the veins of her demons. Before she could react, she felt the Reaver cutting skin, muscle and bone. When it reached her heart, the world was swallowed by darkness. Then, she was falling towards something terrible and, finally, she ceased to be as her very essence fed the spirit of the accursed blade.

Kain took the Third Eye with his left hand and allowed the corpse to fall, before regarding with a puzzled expression the last thing summoned by the Dimension Guardian. If proof was needed of her absolute madness, that was it. What had she tried to do, bringing an unconscious human woman to the battlefield? Did she want to bait Kain with blood?

At any rate, it no longer mattered. The young woman was a bit smaller than average and her outfit was most unusual, but she was full of human blood. Better yet, her heart was still beating, so her blood would be much healthier than anything gained from Azimuth's already cooling corpse. Kneeling next to his victim-to-be, Kain raised the head to have a better view of the neck. But just as he was about to sink his fangs, the "victim" opened her eyes and understanding immediately what was about to happen, she reacted.

When the young lady flung him into the air with a single blow, Kain decided that Azimuth's last spell hadn't been exactly pointless, after all.

-----

Notes: I don't know where this story will end. It might become a simple one-shot deal, because I have no grand plan for the story. But I wanted to get this scene out of my system and I think that it is fairly nice, despite being so short. If you agree, leave a review, please ;-).


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Still not mine. The Legacy of Kain videogames were developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Eidos Interactive. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was created by Joss Whedon.

II- The First Battle.

The vampire raised, bruised and livid. His wish to drink the blonde's blood was now increased by the need to avenge his humiliation. His landing had been only moderately painful, but the shame of being caught with his guard down was something else. Nonetheless, he would have to be careful. The blow had sent him several meters in the air and no mortal woman had that kind of strength. And when he found his enemy, already standing and ready to attack, he noticed something else.

When the woman had hit him, he had been surprised and he had dropped the Reaver. And the woman had been fast enough to seize the weapon. And while the Soul Reaver appeared too big for her small hands, the way she held it was telling. It was a correct, firm hold. Unlikely as it was, he knew that she must have some experience in swordfighting.

In conclusion, he faced an enemy with supernatural strength and some skill in the use of weapons, wielding what was probably the deadliest sword ever crafted in the land of Nosgoth. In the months since his dark resurrection, Kain had found himself in a few worse situations. But not many of them.

At least, there were two good things in the whole mess. First, the woman showed no sign of knowing how to use the blade's hidden powers. There was no trace of the blue energy that Kain had learned to generate by filling the metal with his magic energy. Considering that the blue energy made the sword roughly ten times deadlier, that was good.

The other positive note was that the woman's face was twisted in a mask of righteous rage. A furious warrior is a careless warrior. A careless warrior is a dead warrior. So said the motto of one of the trainers that had taught him to fight in his youth, in Coorhagen. Kain had had a great many times to test its accuracy and the statement had always been right. Even in the damned night of his death, when the bandits had attacked him. He had been enraged. He had been careless. He had been killed. The experience that had ended his mortal existence had been... most enlightening.

"I am amazed, woman. Few of your kind have what it takes to hold a sword without cutting themselves. How many beds did you have to visit to learn what you know?," asked Kain with his best mocking voice, intending to enrage her even further.

Of all answers ha had considered possible, the sound of the woman giggling had not been one of them.

-----

"That was a taunt? You need some remedial education. I know that you vamps are not the best and brightest out there, but that was plain pathetic," replied Buffy after giggling a bit more, her fury forgotten for the moment. The vamp's face when she had laughed had been priceless.

The Slayer had gone through some really bad days, recently. Her mother had died. A bunch of Renaissance Fair rejects had tried to kill her and her friends. Then, they had had to battle against Glory and she had been forced to jump into a portal heading for Glorificus' native hell dimension, in order to save the universe. After that, even ending in what appeared to be an evil temple in a hell dimension, with a lot of dead demons, fire and brimstone, blood pooling in the ground and even a vamp that had tried to bite her probably was a small improvement.

Her life sucked. There was no doubting it.

"All right, Count Dracugly, don't fret. You get bonus points for trying. Now, tell me. Where am I? What has happened here? It seems that I missed the party, because the demons are already dead and that's not how things work. By the way, if this was about Glory, I fear that she ain't coming," asked the Slayer, not really expecting an answer.

The vampire, however, seemed to be in a talkative mood, because he actually replied.

"I am Kain, wench. Insult me again and you will suffer an agony painful beyond the understanding of your feeble mind," barked the vampire, clearly a bit annoyed and making an effort to restrain himself. "As for your questions... You are in Avernus Cathedral. Azimuth the Planar, whose corpse is to your left, brought you here with one of her portals. Just as she did with all these other hellspawned creatures. I killed them all and you will soon join them in the aferlife."

"You are not the first vampire to threaten me. And you are not going to be the last, Dracugly. I am just a poor girl from California very far from home, but somebody decided to give me superpowers to protect people from things like you. I am the Slayer, the Vampire Slayer. Does that ring a bell?"

"Your insolence grows annoying. I have never heard of Vampire Slayers, although the ancient Sarafan might have claimed such a title. Nor have I ever heard of California. It sound like some obscure village in the Southlands. I hear that it is the tradition there for the men to marry with their close relatives, which results in rotten blood and weak minds and...

The vampire, Kain, had no chance to end his joke. He had touched bone there. After all the crap the Powers had sent her way over the past several weeks, Buffy was willing to ignore happily most personal insults. But nothing about her family.

-----

Fast. That was all Kain had time to notice, before the attacking "Vampire Slayer" forced him to dodge madly. Something he had said had increased the woman's fury and it showed in her attack. It was actually quite clumsy, but there was something that the vampire had failed to expect. She wasn't just stronger than mere mortals. She was nearly as fast as Kain himself.

And he had not expected such a sudden change in her, so she had surprise in her side as well. After months of mostly facing slower, weaker enemies, he had grown careless again. He would have to... Before having a chance to recover, the vampire lost his footing in a deep pool of demonic blood and fell to the floor.

The image of the Reaver heading for his chest was the next thing Kain was aware of. Only an almost instinctive reaction saved him then from sharing Azimuth's fate. Magic, summoned in the last possible second, turned his flesh and bone into mist and the metal cut through air finding no resistance.

But the change offered no protection against arcane powers and in Nosgoth no other sword had as much arcane power as the Soul Reaver. When the mist touched the blade, Kain felt the hunger of was was trapped inside, trying to suck his own soul in. The mist cloud fled, becoming Kain again in the other side of the Cathedral and Kain checked his chest with his hand, to ensure that his heart was still there.

It had not been lethal, but it had been extremely painful and rather disturbing.

Kain decided that the bitch was going to die in some incredibly painful way. He was no expert in the field of creative torture, but some of the things he had seen in Vorador's playroom had been rather inspiring.

And at the end, the woman's essence would feed the Reaver.

But although considering her punishment was surprisingly attractive, first he had a battle to win. Kain reached out with his mind and in his hand appeared the Flame Sword, its blade wreathed in fiery splendour. It wasn't as powerful as the Reaver, but it still had been forged using powerful spells. It would make things more balanced. And to ensure that things went his way...

-----

Seeing Kain using the mist trick had been quite surprising. She had meet only one other vampire with such a power and he had been more trouble than usual, so she stopped for a second to plan her next move. The magic sword that the vampire was holding and his really disturbing smile, suggested that this had been a mistake. Her only plan was to keep hitting the vamp with the ugly sword she had found in the floor, but it seemed that the bloodsucker had something else in store. His smile was just like Angelus'.

Whatever he was about to do, it was going to be Bad. With the capital B.

Buffy run towards her enemy at her best speed. But there were roughly fifty steps of empty space between them. At fourty five steps, the vamp had produced from a pouch a small hourglass. Over the next twenty steps, Buffy heard the vampire muttering something in some unknown language and she saw how the sand in the hourglass began to glow brightly.

She had cut the distance down to twenty steps when she felt something odd in the air. It was vaguely familiar, like one of Willow's spells, but with a stronger, darker feel to it. And the feeling grew stronger with every step.

At fifteen steps, the incantation ended and the vampire crushed the hourglass in his hand, allowing glass to cut skin and mixing his own blood with the magic sand. This finished the spell and Kain opened his fist, releasing what was within.

There was a blinding flash of light. Buffy stopped, still ten steps away from the vampire. She blinked several times, until her vision returned to normal. Surprisingly, she found Kain still waiting in the spot, with a broad and cruel smile in his ugly face. Uncertain of what the magic was supposed to do, Buffy put herself in a defensive position, waiting for the vampire's attack.

Or rather, she tried to put herself in a defensive position. Buffy found with dread the spell's effect when her arms answered her mental commands with all the speed of an old tortoise with severe rheumatism. It was not a matter of strength, but rather speed. Her mind worked correctly, but it felt like moving through quicksand, not air.

And then Kain moved. The magic did not slow him down. In fact, he appeared to be faster now, as if adding the speed he had stolen from Buffy to his own. The vampire made a lazy attack, that Buffy managed to parry using all of her Slayer speed. Apparently, her small triumph amused the bloodsucker.

"You are truly fast, mighty Slayer," mocked the abomination, while launching a second, faster attack that Buffy blocked before it could cut her in half. "But you are a prisoner of the hourglass and you will be until all the sand touches the ground. Do you think that you can resist that long?"

Buffy noticed then that the air around both of them was full of tiny glowing points, the sand of the destroyed hourglass, floating slowly towards the floor. Floating down so slowly, that the Vampire Slayer realized that she would not resist long enough.

-----

Notes: My muse didn't let me leave the story as a one-shot thing. Now I have been forced to write something vaguely resembling a plot outline and this story should grow a little before I'm done with it. If you like it, have something to ask or simply want to warn me about translation mistakes, leave a review.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Not quite mine yet. The Legacy of Kain videogames were developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Eidos Interactive. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was created by Joss Whedon.

III- Interlopers.

It wasn't a fair fight. It wasn't meant to be. Fairness and honour were things for the living and shortly after his resurrection, Kain had decided that they had not bearing when it came to kill or to die. Kain had no intention of dooming himself to an eternity of decadent unlife like Vorador, but the young vampire intended to end his existence in his own terms and only after avenging his murder.

This woman, this so-called Vampire Slayer, was just another enemy among the thousands who had made the ultimate mistake of attempting to block his path. She was remarkable only because for her insolence and the way she had humiliated him, she deserved a special punishment, a particularly gruesome death.

He had discarded honour upon becoming a creature of the night, but he still had his pride. He had been a great lord among the nobility of once-fair Coorhagen. The insult of using his own weapon to attack him could only be washed away with blood, but before this he was doing his best to return the humiliation in kind. Recovering the extremely dangerous Soul Reaver at the first opportunity would have been the logical thing to do. But having some fun with his foe was tempting enough to be reckless for a while.

Two thirds of the magic released by the Arcane Hourglass were already gone and he had yet to make a serious attempt to kill the woman. Her scent had changed slightly, her heartbeat had increased and her eyes showed a hint of fear and a lot of frustration. Delicious, exciting. He hadn't felt so powerful in a long time... since he had stormed the night camp of the bandits who had killed him, to be accurate. Knowing that a single touch of the Reaver could mean certain death and then avoiding the blade with ease was oddly exhilarating. Piercing the woman's defense and then stopping his weapon just short of a crippling blow, close enough to scorch skin with the magic fires of the Flame Sword made him feel something that defied description.

The woman was getting a bit desperate, despite her best efforts to hide it. Kain had not missed his chance to add insult to the injury. He had run circles around the Slayer, his speed so enhanced by magic that she simply couldn't follow his movements; he had left the battleground to pick from the ground Azimuth's Third Eye and an strange metal rod covered with runes that had rolled out of the late Matriarch's gown; he had even sheathed his sword at one point to attack the human with his bare hands, landing many blows with his speed advantage.

It was a pity that the fun had to end now, but time advanced and allowing the outraged woman to recover her speed would be stupid. Also, he needed her blood. His reserves were low and his magic power almost entirely depleted. Should new enemies appear, Kain faced a very real possibility of defeat.

As if summoned by Kain's grim thoughts, the massive oak gates trembled. Seconds later, another blow rocked the gates and cracks appeared in the thick wood. Kain himself had sealed shut those very gates and he had a fair idea of their dimensions. What was trying to force open the gate had to be considerably stronger than he was.

It had to be one of the demonic beasts Azimuth had unleashed against her own city. He had supposed that after the death of their mistress, the hellish creatures would return to their own realms. He had been wrong. Worse, it seemed that the protection that the cathedral had enjoyed had disappeared along with the Matriarch's life.

The day kept getting better and better.

There was a deafening roar and a third blow came soon afterwards, yet the gates resisted. The fourth hit, however, finally overcame the resistance and the massive doors fell with a thundering crash. Now the gateway was open and the attacker clearly visible.

If not for his condition, Kain would have paled. His worst fears were coming true. It was an imposing monster, easily over four meters tall, with an extremely muscled body and skin the colour of night. Azimuth had summoned several Crimson Demons, lesser relatives of the creature he now faced, but for some reason she hadn't included Black Demons, the true lords of the Burning Abyss.

He had supposed that Azimuth hadn't been strong enough or mad enough to bring their legendary evil from the depths of hell. He had been wrong, again. And that was the least of his problems.

Even if the approaching abomination was the only one walking under the Sun, its very presence in the world was blasphemy of the highest order. And a terrible menace, if the myths about this kind of demons held even the smallest grain of truth. Kain didn't want to discover if its fire breath was hot enough to burn a hundred men to cinders in a single blow or if their armoured hide truly was impervious to all mundane weapons.

The time had come to withdraw and wait for better odds.

For a second he considered leaving the woman behind. The idea of two enemies of his fighting to death had some appeal, but he discarded the idea at once. He wanted to have the pleasure of killing her and leaving the dirty work for others would put him in the level of the cowards that had hired swords for hire to kill him. It seemed that he only had one acceptable option.

-----

With growing unease, Buffy Summers regarded the black demon. It was big, it was ugly and it had a lot of teeth. Not the biggest, nor the ugliest she had seen over the years, but well above average in both things. And the vampire's reaction to the party-crasher demon was disturbing.

Kain had claimed that he had defeated the dozens of demons whose bodies surrounded them both. Considering the abilities he had shown, it was likely that it was true. And when he had seen this new enemy, Kain had taken a step back and his face had shown something pretty close to fear. Yes, it seemed that this demon was Trouble with the capital T.

"Friend of yours, vampie? Do you owe him money? I don't understand what he is growling, but I'd say that he wants a piece of you," commented the Slayer, while she approached Kain slowly. If she managed to get close enough, she would try a beheading strike. With a lot of luck, she would kill the vamp in a single blow and maybe that would break the spell that still slowed her down. If all turned out well, then she might have a chance against the superdemon and…

Her plans were thwarted when the vampire advanced a couple of steps towards the demon and raised his left hand. Some kind of green beam shot out of the palm and struck the charging demon, that was frozen in mid-step.

"Very well, Slayer. My magic will not sustain that spell for long and soon the beast will be free once again. It would be wise to leave before that happens and end our little duel elsewhere. You would do well to come now. You have a remote possibility of defeating me, but against a Black Demon you have no chance whatsoever. Will you come, woman?"

Buffy considered. ¿Fighting against a superdemon AND a vampire wizard or just against a vampire wizard? Not a hard choice. And it seemed that for some reason Kain hadn't used his worst against her. She had been slowed down, not frozen. It might have been because the vamp wanted to taunt her or it might have been some warped code of honour or it might be that he was underestimating her. Whatever the reason, it seemed that she would have a better chance taking Kain up on his offer.

"Yeah, I can kick your friend's ass later and I really want to be the one to wipe that smirk off your face. But in case you hadn't noticed, I can't run very fast at the moment."

"Of course," replied the bloodsucker, clearly amused by her challenging attitude. He moved his hand in a pattern and uttered a few magical-sounding words. When he finished, the glowing sand disappeared and Buffy recovered her freedom of movement. "The spell is broken and you are free for the time being. Now, come with me if you want to live."

"All right, Arnold."

Kain raised an eyebrow at the new nickname, but said nothing and began running towards a side of the creepy church that Buffy hadn't been able to observe in any detail. For a moment, she considered killing the frozen demon, but immediately decided against it. The vamp hadn't tried and he knew the dos and don'ts of this place.

Moreover, the demon still hadn't done a thing to anger her, whereas Kain had managed to royally piss off the primal and murderous essence of the Slayer that now really wanted a piece of the vampire. Poor Kain.

Buffy followed her prey, into a corridor beginning left of the main altar and then going down a smaller corridor... that ended in a doorless wall less than five meters away. Fearing some kind of deception, Buffy raised her sword, but the vampire didn't acknowledge the threat. He was touching the walls, looking for something.

"Do something useful, wench. There should be a loose stone somewhere in this corridor. Take the other wall and press stones until you find it. Now."

It turned out that there was some justification for the outburst. Right then, a roar coming from the main room announced the end of the spell and booming and the sound of heavy steps suggested that they had very little time before being cornered.

After several more seconds of frantic stone-pressing, Kain found the blasted thing and pressed it. A stone mosaic at the end of the corridor glowed magically.

"It is a teleport platform. They will take us somewhere safe, but they aren't charged yet. Wait for the golden colour."

"THERE IS NO ESCAPE! I AM YOUR DEATH!"

The voice, completely inhuman, belonged to the demon that had managed to locate them. Fortunately, it seemed that he was having some trouble fitting his large body inside the small corridor and that left him open to attack. Buffy and Kain struck at the same time, with differing results.

Kain's magic sword bounced when it hit the demon's hide, barely singeing the surface. The ugly sword that Buffy had been using for the duration of the duel, however, cut to the bone with almost no effort. The demon howled in pain and retreated several meters...

Damn, she thought. This sword is a freaking lightsaber.

The demon wasn't out of the fight, but the pain had been a surprise. Now it would be more cautious and… Why was the demon breathing so deeply? It was… hyperventilating?

The growing red glow around the demon suggested that it wasn't a medical condition and when Kain dove for cover in the relative safety of the other corridor, Buffy followed. Thus, they narrowly avoided being incinerated by the fire released by the demon.

"I will huff and I will puff and I will blow your house down," muttered Buffy and offered no explanation when Kain eyed her with confusion in his face.

Then, they noticed that the teleport platform was now a pretty gold colour and they reacted, before the demon had a chance to launch his fire down the corridor. There was a brief flash and they both disappeared, just as things were getting a little bit too hot.

The Black Demon growled, frustrated, and kicked the stone floor with its hooved feet until the stone tiles cracked, but it was too late. Grudgingly, the creature left the cathedral to use his fury against any humans or lesser demons unfortunate enough to cross his path.

-----

Avernus Cathedral was a nightmarish maze built in many different planes connected by the magic of the late Dimension Guardian. That oddity had been used to hide certain things from her human vassals, things like the catacombs buried beneath the cathedral that served as headquarters for the sinister sect led by Azimuth that made human sacrifices to a sinister god. Kain had found out this and other secrets, such as the Soul Reaver, while exploring the depths a few hours ago, before his battle with the mad Guardian.

As Kain had predicted, the teleport platform left him in an empty area of the caves, an area with no dangers and no enemies. The perfect place to end his battle with the Slayer, before preparing the next step in his quest. The only problem was that he was alone. No woman, no Reaver. Had the woman been left behind? Did the platform teleport only one of them because it didn't have enough energy? And if that was not the case, where was the woman who had stolen his sword?

-----

Said woman was in a small room with no doors and no windows. The rock walls were covered with strange markings that might be characters in some demonic alphabet. And she wasn't alone.

Buffy Summers had seldom seen creepier things in her five years as Slayer. The face of the stranger was skull-like with yellowed skin and dead eyes and although a dark cloak covered most of his body, what appeared to be flesh-free ribs were clearly visible in the front. To be sincere, he only needed a scythe to make a decent Grim Reaper. She raised her weapon slightly, unsure of what to do, when the thing spoke with a human enough voice.

"Drop your blade, outlander. I am Mortanius and we have to talk."

-----

Notes: It seemed like a good place to cut the chapter... Let's hope that the violence is not too much for the history rating. If you like, tell me with a review. If you don't, tell me too. If you only have flames, tell me anyway.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: No, Buffy and Kain are not mine yet. So I am not making any money out of this fanfic.

IV- The Breaking Point.

"Not a chance in hell. I don't know if you have ever been told, Bones, but your don't look like the kind of boy a girl can trust like that in the first date," replied the Slayer, raising the sword slightly. "Do you want to talk? Great. Let's talk. But I'm not 'dropping the blade'."

She wasn't getting any closer, either, at least for now. She didn't want to attack if she didn't have to, because answers were urgently needed and this guy probably could share a few. But so far this day she had had bad luck and worse luck. And this Mortanius looked like the kind of guy that back in Sunnydale usually came with ritual murder and other end-of-the-world kind of stuff. Yes, for the moment she was going to put his file in the "probably dangerous" folder and...

"I fear that you haven't understood me. I wasn't asking you," replied the man, pointing the index of his right arm at her.

There was no incantation and no feeling of gathering power, so the spell caught her completely unaware. Terrible pain paralyzed her right arm and when something invisible seized her weapon, the Slayer found herself simply unable to resist. The same invisible force moved the sword through the air, until Mortanius' hand closed around the hilt. The pain disappeared at the same time, but Buffy's right arm was numb, like those times she had been hit with Initiative zappers.

"This is a powerful, legendary weapon. It was created for other hands. Not mine and certainly not yours. You should not have it," explained Skeletor-guy after observing the sword for a brief moment. "You should not have been able to claim the Soul Reaver from Kain."

In other situations, Buffy would have made some kind of pun. But after fighting against Glory and the strongest vamp she had ever met, the exhaustion was helping the most primal components of the Slayer to come to the fore. With his actions, Mortanius had openly declared himself yet another enemy and it considered that this was a do or die scenario, so Buffy Summers launched herself towards the wizards without thinking it twice.

The same invisible hands that had taken her weapon stopped her in mid-air and a cocoon of solidified air formed around her body, keeping her perfectly still a few centimeters above ground level. Mortanius approached his victim, until his emaciated face almost touched the Slayer's. Buffy tried to move her head enough to head-butt the sorcerer, but the magic binding her proved to be too powerful.

"Poor little girl. You are alone, far from home and now a pawn in a game between forces far beyond your imagination. I pity you, girl. Sincerely. Killing you would be an act of...

Mortanius fell silent then. If his gaze had been intense before, now it became laser-like in intensity. His body language went from calm to tense in a heartbeat. When he spoke again, Buffy detected in the voice signs of emotions that hadn't been there before.

"Tell me, girl. How it is that you have died, yet you still live?"

Pressure around Buffy's throat relaxed, although it didn't disappear completely. Nonetheless, breathing was easier, even if the rest of her body below the neck was still like a statue, trapped inside a prison of pure magic.

"Fuck you," was her reply. Personally, Buffy would have paid good money to spit in Mortanius' general direction, but her mouth was suddenly dry like the desert.

As the Slayer she had been close to defeat many times. She had been defeated a few times. She had faced enemies far more powerful than she was, Chosen One or not. But never in her five years of defending the Hellmouth had defeat so complete. No enemy had managed to subdue her so utterly and with such ease before, Glory included. And she had never experienced the kind of fear she faced now, fear of dying here, alone and far from home.

"I can make you wish for oblivion. I have the power to make you feel pain beyond your imagination. I can torture you within an inch of death and keep you there, trapped in eternal agony. I can do all this and much more. I will if I must. For your own good, girl, you will tell me what I want to know or I will use pain to find out. Tell me how it is that you have died and have returned to life. You are not one of the undead, but your soul has been briefly in the afterlife. Is that what makes you a Vampire Slayer?"

"How do you...?"

"I felt your arrival and saw your fight against Kain. Kain is destined to either save or doom this world and I cannot allow something like you to stand in his way. I brought you here, to my sanctum, to consider what to do with you. You are an unknown, a force that is not mentioned in any of the prophecies... which should be impossible. Whether you know it or not, your arrival here cannot be the work of blind chance and that is a very ill omen. Some force lurks beyond the horizon and I must decide what to do with you."

"What right do you have to decide about my life?"

"I am a member of the Circle of Light and that gives me the right to do anything I consider necessary to ensure the safety of this land," answered Mortanius. "And, of course, might makes right, or so it is said here. At any rate, this is your last chance. Do you want to do things the easy way or the not so easy way? I promise you that regardless of what path you choose, I will take all I may need from you."

"Try your worst then. I can take it."

"So be it."

And before the echoes of these words disappeared, a slim hand closed around Buffy's throat. And there was pain.

The Slayer was more than used to physical pain and a whole year of loss had taught her to cope with emotional pain. What Mortanius had summoned to break her will was something different. Pain of the spirit. It was worse than any other torture that the wizard could have used. It was the concentrated, refined, enhanced form of the worst pain in the world, transformed into a burning needle that was tearing her very heart apart.

The contact lasted less than a second. The memory would haunt Buffy Sumnmers for the rest of her days. The sheer intensity of it was enough to break the proverbial camel's back. She had been pushed beyond her limits, something broke inside her soul and tears rolled down her face, while the faces of those she had been forced to leave behind filled her mind.

The spell that Mortanius had been using to hold her was broken and Buffy collapsed, overwhelmed by her own emotions and lacking enough force to continue standing. All of a sudden, she felt that the full weight of the universe rested upon her shoulders. She was like that Greek giant guy, Atlas.

"You will tell me what I need to know."

Buffy grudgingly looked up. Mortanius was standing next to her. Tall, dark and cold like death itself. She didn't even feel the insidious forces at work within her mind as they crushed the last islands of resistance in the darkest corners of her soul. Alone, defeated and scared as never before, Buffy Summers nodded. Now she couldn't even imagine the possibility of trying to resist.

A very slight smile appeared in Mortanius' face. Not a pleasant smile.

-----

Notes: Much darker than I originally intended to write this, actually, but I realized that I had overlooked some fairly important details in my plot outline and afterwards this chapter refused to be written any other way. 


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: As soon as I secure ownership of either Buffy the Vampire Slayer or the Legacy of Kain franchise, I will throw a party. As I don't own either of them at the moment, I am not making any money whatsoever out of this. In other words, no party yet, folks.

V- Blank Slate.

The girl woke up. Daylight blinded her and she used her left hand to shield her sensitive eyes.

For some reason, she was lying down in the middle of a meadow, with a couple of cows a few meters away. She tried to remember why she had decided to sleep there, instead of looking for some kind of shelter.

She found nothing.

And it wasn't just last night what she didn't remember. With growing consternation, she realized that she didn't have any memory of her previous life. Not even her own name. There was nothing at all. No matter how hard she tried to remember something -anything- the most she found in the otherwise empty void in her mind were brief flashes of imagery, too brief to decypher.

What had happened? Impossible to know. She knew that sometimes people forgot things when they were hit in the head, but she no longer remembered the source of this knowledge and her head felt fine. It had to be something else. Something like... magic? But magic didn't exist, did it? It was something out of fairy tales, although she didn't remember meeting fae storytellers, either. But if faeries existed, then magic had to exist, so why did she...

Confused and still without answers, the girl decided to leave the mental rambling for later. The cows probably weren't going to give her an explanation. She had to find people. People meant beds and food. Much better than wet grass and an empty stomach.

But when she was trying to rise, her right hand touched something cold and hard in the grass. When she turned her head, she saw what it was.

A sword. A very big, very ugly and extremely evil-looking sword. And it wasn't just the fanged skull in the hilt. No. The whole blade exuded essential wrongness. But it also looked sharp and dangerous.

And she needed a weapon. Somehow, she knew that the world that she was going to find beyond this peaceful field would be dark and dangerous. Even more for a lone woman. She would need the protection.

So she picked the sword and found that it was surprisingly well balanced and that its weight was strangely comforting in her hand. So armed, the young woman began her journey. Upon finding a stream that flowed near the meadow, she decided to follow it. Streams ended in rivers. People lived near rivers. It was just a little logic.

The cows, the only witnesses of this strange episode, continued their daily routine, blissfully unaware of the important chain of events that had just started.

-----

"Well done, Kain. You return to me after defeating the Planer in the heart of her power, Kain. Very well done, indeed."

"I do not serve you, Ariel. I follow your advice only because I have been promised release."

"And release you shall have, when the last of the Nine dies and the Pillars are finally restored, Kain."

Not for the first time, the vampire wondered if the ghost of the former Guardian of Balance was being truthful. The telltale signs of deception he had learned to detect in human with his enhanced senses didn't apply when dealing with the uncorporeal spirit of the sorceress. He knew that it was entirely possible that he was just a puppet in her plans to remove the corruption of the Pillars that had trapped her in a state of unlife she clearly did not enjoy.

After all, it had been Mortanius who had raised him as an undead abomination and then told him go to the Pillars, where he had first found the ghost of Ariel and been told the price of release. Clearly, the Necromancer was working in league with the spirit, but his ultimate goals remained an unknown quantity, unlike Ariel's.

Nonetheless, Kain knew one thing for sure. The gifts of the Guardian of Death didn't come cheap. He would do as Ariel instructed, because doing so was still his best bet to avoid becoming a monster like Vorador, but he didn't trust any of the Guardians, dead or alive.

"Tell me, Ariel. Have you ever heard of a land called California?"

"I had never heard of a land with such a name in all my years, Kain. Why do you ask?"

"It is the birthplace of an enemy that I will destroy the next time we meet. A demon in the form of a woman who challenged me and then fled with my prize, rather than facing my wrath."

"And what treasure did you lose to this enemy?"

Did Kain's ears deceive him or was there a bit of genuine worry in Ariel's voice?

"Only the greatest weapon in Nosgoth. The Soul Reaver itself. But the blood of the thief will cleanse the insult."

"The Soul Reaver is more important than you care to imagine, Kain. You will need of its power in the next stage of your quest and if you fail, the armies of the north will be able to burn all of Nosgoth. Without the Reaver, not even the might of the Lion Throne will be enough to stop the Nemesis."

"If the Soul Reaver is so important, why did you forget to mention it when you send me to Avernus? You might be bound to the Pillars, but you clearly know much of what happens in the land. Speak clearly now, because your cryptic warnings grow tiresome."

"You are a single pawn in a great game, vampire. You will do as I tell you or you will..."

"No."

"No?"

"No, I will not. Maybe others consider me a pawn, but I am my own master. And you are not even in the game board anymore, Ariel. If I abandon you, you will be powerless, trapped for an eternity between life and death. While I am certain that somewhere in Nosgoth I would eventually find the oblivion I crave for, even if I must search for it without your help."

"You would destroy Nosgoth, you fool!"

"So be it. You put this burden upon my shoulders, but I will not bear it any longer, unless you reveal the secrets you hide. This is my last word and your last chance, ghost."

"Very well. Know this then. You must face Moebius the Timestreamer, eldest of the Nine. He is powerful in magic and great in cunning. A more crafty and devious individual you will not find in this world. You carry one of his toys, a Time Streaming Device that will allow you to follow him through the fabric of time. Azimuth had stolen it in the hopes of unlocking its secrets to learn to summon creatures from other ages and not just from other realms."

"Surprisingly insightful for once. But you still have to explain the importance of the Soul Reaver."

"The sword you lost is ancient beyond measure and its power is intertwined with these very Pillars. Only with this power will you be able to overcome the traps that Moebius has prepared in your path. You must recover the blade."

"I have every intention of doing it, Ariel, particularly now that I understand things better."

"Leave then. Find the Reaver and then go to Willendorf."

"More orders? Do not fret. I will do as you suggest, but remember that I do it out of my own volition. But before leaving I will return Azimuth's eye to her Pillar. I do not wish to carry this accursed jewel any longer than necessary."

And, after stating this, he pressed the gem against the stone of the cracked marble of the Pillar of Dimension, returning the power contained in Azimuth's Third Eye. Power that would allow the Pillar to destroy the taint that had weakened it. However, hidden amidst this magic, there was a residue of a very different power that was also absorbed.

It was so faint that neither Kain, nor Ariel noticed it. But there were other eyes watching the scene and some of these observers actually understood that the first rock of a massive landslide had just been launched.

-----

Elsewhere, in a place that was both very close and very far away from the Pillars of Nosgoth, of of these observers, a massive being sat upon a throne in an otherwise empty room. His eyes glowed with a sickly green light and cold fire shrouded his form. He was Hash'ak'gik, overlord of the Hylden clans and ruler of a realm of suffering and madness.

The throne of the Hylden lord contained the souls of a dozen of his vassals. A dozen powerful mages that had willingly ended their eternal lives to give their lord the power needed to pierce the veil between Nosgoth and the hellish dimension of the Hylden. Now, for the first time in over a thousand years, Hash'ak'gik laughed knowing that the exile of his people was finally coming to an end.

The power of the Key had entered the Pillars and was already weakening the Binding. It wouldn't happen overnight, but soon there would be holes large enough in the wall to allow the Hylden to return to Nosgoth. "A force created to destroy all barriers" had been the words of the Vampire Slayer. And she had been right.

The day of the reckoning was coming.

-----

Notes: Not a lot to say, other than merry Christmas and a happy New Year!


End file.
